What is the meaning of where I lived and what I lived for?

“Progress for the sake of progress must be prohibited”. Although this quote is from Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter, it accurately describes Thoreau’s attitude towards progress in Where I Lived, and What I Lived For, an excerpt from Walden. Where I Lived and What I Lived For is Thoreau’s narrative about the benefits of living simply and avoiding the evils that have penetrated society, by leaving to live in the woods. Specifically, it is his musings about the true purpose of life. One of the areas of society that he addresses is the idea of progress. Thoreau states that progress always has a cost, even if that cost is not readily visible to the public eye.

The cost of progress can be very serious, even deadly. One way Thoreau describes the deadlier aspect of this cost is through the extended metaphor of the “sleepers”. Sleepers are railroad ties, but Thoreau uses them in a different context, as a symbol of those who built the railroads and lost their lives doing so. Many of these people were immigrants, and their deaths were covered up. These people were the “cost” of the railroad. Thoreau uses imagery to convey this, saying that “the rails are laid on them, and they are covered with sand, and the cars run smoothly over them.” The sand in this passage is a metaphor for the way that their deaths were “buried” to prevent the general population from finding out about them. The deaths are “sound sleepers”, meaning that it would be very difficult to wake them up, or bring awareness to the issue. When it is attempted, the railroad companies “suddenly stop the cars, and make a hue and cry about it, as if this were an exception”. In other words, the people who covered up the deaths in the first place would treat any proof of death from building the railroads as something that was a one-time problem, as if it happened so rarely that no one was even aware of it, when the truth was really the opposite. Thoreau is pointing out society’s tendency to ignore problems and risks when it comes to progress. This ignorance is a trend that has continued from Thoreau’s time up to the present. Thoreau realizes this by saying that “every few years a new lot is laid down and run over”. By this quote, he means that there will always be more secrets and more cover ups in the name of progress that society will simply ignore. Through his analysis of the sleepers, Thoreau states that in the eyes of society, progress is more important than safety.

Another cost of progress is individual happiness . Thoreau shows this through a second extended metaphor; the railroad. He states that “if we do not get out sleepers, and forge rails, and devote days and nights to the work, but go to tinkering upon our lives to improve them, who will build railroads?” Individuals are told that their own happiness does not matter, that happiness is a sacrifice they must make for the sake of progress. This continues today. Many people work long, tough hours, neglecting their families and relationships with others, trying to progress in certain areas or to maintain the progress that we have already made. Thoreau follows this point up by asking “if railroads are not built, how will we get to heaven in season?” Through this question, he illustrates that individuals are told that the progress that they make, along with benefiting society, will bring them more happiness in the long run.

The railroads symbolize the idea of progress in this extended metaphor, as the railroads were a huge advancement in during Thoreau’s lifetime. The railroad boom was from the 1830’s to the 1860’s, and Walden was written in 1854. Railroads were revolutionary, enabling people to travel faster and farther than ever before. It seemed almost as if they were taking their passengers to a heavenly destination, and that they would get them there in record time. In the excitement over the railroads, people forgot to think about their present happiness in hopes of their future happiness. Thoreau believed that in doing this, we lost a vital truth of how to live our lives. He believed that we should live deliberately, focusing on the present, rather than on the future, as so many people were doing during his life.

What Thoreau ultimately believes progress has taken away from society is the sense of how to live and enjoy our lives. One way he shows this is through conceit, making the unlikely comparison of civilized life to a “chopping sea… clouds and storms and quicksands”. Civilization is generally seen as a positive concept. When something is considered gross or unsavory, it is called uncivilized. Civilization is seen as organized and advanced, progressing in areas that make it easier for people to live. However, Thoreau compares it to a sea during a storm, or to the storm itself. Storms are chaotic and destructive, which is the opposite of how people view civilization. Through this conceit, Thoreau is making the point that what we call progress is actually destroying us. It has destroyed our sense of what is really important, instead filling it with trivial, insignificant detail that does not matter, such as getting a perfect score on a test or worrying about what to wear to school or to work or on a date. Thoreau claims that “life is frittered away by detail”, and each that is spent worrying about the detail that progress has filled our heads with is a moment that can never be regained.

Progress always has a cost. The cost comes in many forms; something so abstract that we don’t even miss it until it is too late, something that we are told we will regain if it is given up now, or something that costs lives. We sacrifice many things in order to feel that we have accomplished something new, to feel that we have moved forward, when we are actually falling behind in areas that matter, such as our understanding of the world and God. This gives progress, or the idea of it, a great deal of power over our society. As Thoreau says, “we do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us”. We do not control progress, progress controls our lives.

Walden, What it means today. “Where I Lived and What I Lived For” illustrates the philosophical thinking of Henry David Thoreau during his time at Walden Pond. Thoreau’s goal was to “front only the essential facts of live” and “live deliberately”. His essay is often revered for the self-sufficient and individualistic thinking that he brought to his readers, but despite all the reverence, such principles could tear apart a community. Although the essay was written in the 1850s, many of his arguments for self-sufficiency and individualism hold true today. Thoreau presents his views on the news, technology, and a simple lifestyle. He believes that the news is constant throughout time with only a few minor changes in specifics; therefore the news should only be worried about once. Thoreau explains that tools are useful, yet often in society man becomes a tool of his tools. Through this, Thoreau believes that tools should be used as an aid, not as a necessity. Another principle that Thoreau advocates for in his essay is simplicity. He describes the importance of a simple lifestyle by comparing to nature, which is the most simple of lifestyles. In his essay, Thoreau addresses the news, specifically targeting the recurring themes in the news, however today this ideology can put strains on the community. For example, if the news of the natural disaster, Hurricane Harvey, in Houston, Texas, did not reach those able to donate to aid, many would be in dire circumstances.

I recently had a wonderful vacation in the Black Hills of South Dakota with family and friends. The week included a great deal of nature, time and space, and mostly a complete lack of wifi and cellphone access. This seemed like the perfect time to read a book that I’ve had for nearly 10 years; Where I Lived, and What I Live For by Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau shares his reflections and insights from 18 months living simply in the woods in a home he build himself. He comments on materialism, capitalism, work, and the meaning of life. I’ve often remembered, loved, and relished Thoreau’s often quoted line:

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

Overall, I found the book dense, overly wordy, and dated (1845), but also brilliant, profound, and relevant to modern life. Here are some of my takeaways.

1. “There are nowadays professors of philosophy, but not philosophers.”

Thoreau laments that there are those who study philosophy and the work of philosophers, but fewer who actually write or practice philosophy. Today it seems that there are so many who would critique and evaluate the work of others from a safe intellectual distance, rather than engage in the messiness of creation and subject themselves to critique. See also Paulo Freire on Praxis and Maria Popova on critical thinking, hope, and cynicism in the creative process.

2. Living in the Present Moment

The benefits of mindfully living in the present moment are becoming more and more obvious to us all.

In any weather, at any hour of the day or night, I have been anxious to improve the nick of time, and notch it on my stick too; to stand on the meeting of two eternities, the past and the future, which is precisely the present moment; to toe that line.

And lest we think that social media pulling us away from being present with our family, friends, and even ourselves, Thoreau reminds us that this is an age old challenge with modern manifestations as he admonishes:

After a night’s sleep the news is as indispensable as breakfast.

3. Materialism, Doing, and Being

All men want, not something to do with, but something to do, or rather something to be.

In my coaching one of the earliest resolutions is to let go of material pursuits (things, money, status) and seek intrinsic rewards. Here we can connect Thoreau to Fight Club.

Although moving from external to internal is an early (not necessarily easy) shift many folks make, the harder shift is to blend the doing (work, tasks, activity) of life with the being of life. Thoreau’s push toward being, urges us to confront a powerful question: Who are you becoming?

4. Minimalism, Simplicity, and Essentialism

But I would say to my fellows, once and for all, As long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the county jail.

Anyone else ever feel as committed to their job as they would be to the county jail?

… Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count by half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb nail…Simplify, Simplify. Instead of three meals a day, if it be necessary eat but one; instead of a hundred dishes five; and reduce other things in proportion.

Fewer commitments, means fewer responsibilities. Fewer things, means less to keep and clean. Fewer things to control, means feeling less out of control.

5. “Suck the Marrow of Life”

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to discover to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.

As Ferris Bueller would say, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

6. The Brilliance of Unknowing

I’ve always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born.

I’m realizing that most of the work I need to do on myself is not learning, but unlearning. I’ve written before of the brilliance of my two young daughters and all they have to teach me about life and the world through the brilliance of their unknowing.